Because being healthy should be fun.

And Gosh Darnit, People Like Me {recipe}

No, no exclamation point on that one. Not that my intention is to be sarcastic or insincere, but I don’t have exclamation points in me quite this early in the week.

I’m a little tired, is what I’m saying.

But it’s all for good reason. Yesterday I went on a small, semi-contained shopping spree (I bought ramekins- expect to see individually-sized dinners soon) and on Saturday I hosted a bit of a get together.

And I made pork.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: people like you better when you serve them slow cooked meats.

I had the intention of making some kind of shredded meat for my guests, and decided that I’d go with whatever was on special at the store. This 2 1/2 pounds of pork shoulder was on sale and it was only about $4.50. And, we have a winner.

I checked out a bunch of recipes for carnitas and wound up making a Frankenstein-type combo of this Smitten Kitchen recipe (for the method and the DELICIOUS FAT) and this Skinnytaste recipe (for the flavors).

1. Place pork, garlic, chipotles, sauce, adobo seasoning and the juice from the lime in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven.
2. Pour enough water in to just cover the meat.
3. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 2 hours. Set it and leave it- don’t mess with the meat.
4. Increase heat to medium-high and allow liquid to reduce, occasionally turning the meat.
5. Once the liquid has cooked off, you will be left with the rendered fat. Allow pork to fry up, carefully turning until browned on all sides.
6. With forks or tongs, shred pork and serve. Note: if you are putting this out for a party or otherwise not serving it immediately, transfer to a slow cooker over low heat with a few splashes of chicken broth and it will be ready when you are.

To serve:

corn tortillas (wrap in foil and heat in a low oven for a few minutes to soften)
pico de gallo
sour cream
salsa verde
cilantro
scallions
guacamole
lime wedges

It would be difficult to make this recipe any easier.

You start with this:

Once you increase the heat it’ll look something like this:

And by the time your friends show up, they will likely comment on how they could smell this deliciousness from all the way down the hall:

Everyone likes a toppings bar.

I should add that to the list of things to serve people so that they’ll like you more.

Oh, and my taco is obscuring the OTHER deliciousness on my plate. I made mac ‘n cheese, too. And I added bacon to this batch.

I’ll try to pretend I didn’t see you roll your eyes. We all know how I feel about mac ‘n cheese.

I always love your posts for entertaining – you make such great meals for your guests! Love the carnitas and guac. And you can’t go wrong with bacon mac ‘n cheese. I’m not rolling my eyes — I’m trying to look around your taco to get at that goodness! 🙂